Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON, a village, a township, and a parish, in Chester-le-Street district, Durham. The village stands 1 mile NNW of Washington r. station, and 6 SE by S of Gateshead; and has a postal letter-box under Washington station. The station is on the Northeastern railway, at the intersection of the Stanhope and Tyne railway, and has a head post-office, designated of the county of Durham, and a telegraph office. The township comprises 1,894 acres. Real property, £8,739; of which £1,690 are in mines. Pop. in 1851, 1,224; in 1861, 1,829. Houses, 353. The manor was held, in the 12th century, by the family of Wessington; and passed, in the time of Richard III., to the Washingtons, a descendant of whom was the famous George Washington, first president of the United States. There are collieries, blast furnaces, iron-works, brick-works, and extensive chemical works.—The parish contains also Usworth and Barmston townships, and comprises 5,335 acres. Pop. in 1851, 3,485; in 1861, 5,981. Houses, 1,133. The property is not much divided. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value, £610.* Patron, the Bishop of Manchester. The church was rebuilt in 1832. The rectory of Usworth is a separate benefice. There are three Methodist chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, an endowed school with £33 a year, and charities £6.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a township, and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Washington AP/CP       Chester le Street RegD/PLU       County Durham AncC
Place: Washington

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.